Travers: We needed candour in Ottawa; we got denial

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By James Travers
National Affairs Columnist
OTTAWA

Fooling enough of the people all of the time is the national capital's new normal. This week's throne speech and budget doggedly follow the last election's pattern of illusion, denial and dishonesty.

Back before industrial giants staggered into bankruptcy protection, pensions vaporized and portfolios shrank, voters were promised the county would escape recession, deficits and hard times simply by staying the Conservative course. Now Canadians are being asked to trust the same Prime Minister and finance minister to do what's never been done before – let the economy grow the country back to balanced budgets, prosperity and happy days.

Utter bunk rarely gets such a speedy second chance. Truth in forecasting was a casualty of the last campaign and now lies torn and bleeding as political parties position for the next.
A frank Prime Minister wouldn't have used the throne speech to hold out the empty hope that a country tightening its belt is also ready to make tough decisions to invest heavily in brains, innovation and competitiveness. A forthright finance minister wouldn't have used his budget to make rosy predictions for economic growth and spending cuts while minimizing the risk of shocks to come, ignoring past failures to control government costs and assuming deficits will magically disappear.

No, more candid leaders would have woven a different narrative this week. They could have begun by reviewing the facts behind two of the budget's boldest headlines. Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty could have admitted they overruled finance department warnings and rolled the dice on structural deficits by twice cutting the GST only to lose the gamble in the 2008 global crisis. They might have confirmed that putting the brakes on armed forces procurement is a result of buying the giant transport aircraft that Conservatives wanted more than the military.
But saying you're wrong or sorry isn't central to political thinking. Nor is it considered shrewd to be honest about what your party really believes before asking voters to cast ballots in its favour.